1. SOCIAL STUDIES AND SCIENCE WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP MS DEC. 17, 2013 Text Dependent Questions

2. Agenda Check in on progress: Share your stories  complex text, shifts, writing Text dependent questions Close reading Academic vocabulary PARCC items/example questions Goals moving forward

3. SELECTING A TEXT Choose a text. The text should illuminate an intriguing question of idea related to your content area and curriculum. It should be provocative or worthwhile. Choose interesting primary and secondary sources (aside from the textbook) that offer realistic glimpses into the world and add perspective to your content.

4. Big ideas Determine what exactly it is that you most want students to gain from the text. In one to three sentences, write a note to yourself about the most important ideas from the document.

5. Literal to Higher Level Begin with literal questions with answers that can be found directly. Start small to build confidence in finding answers to text- based questions. Move on towards more inferential questions. Key ideas-create a series of questions structured to bring the reader to an understanding of these.

6. Text Complexity- Qualitative Analysis Find the sections of the text that will present the greatest difficulty and craft questions that support students in mastering these sections: Syntax- sentence structure Dense text Layout, text features Tricky transitions Multiple purposes Non-linear reading (charts, diagrams)

7. Qualitative Factors of Text Complexity Subtle and/or frequent transitions Multiple and/or subtle themes and purposes Density of information Unfamiliar settings, topics or events Lack of repetition, overlap or similarity in words and sentences Complex sentences Uncommon vocabulary Lack of words, sentences or paragraphs that review or pull things together for the student Longer paragraphs Any text structure which is less narrative and/or mixes structures Use of passive voice

8. Genre Specific Focus Primary Source  Contextualize  Source Informational Text (Secondary source)  Main ideas  Text structure/organization  Key detail Argumentative Text  Probe the claim  Examine the evidence and reasoning

9. TEXT DIFFICULTY Instead of asking yourself “Will students be able to understand this text?” ask “What can I do to help them practice the skills of accessing difficult texts?”

10. Academic Vocabulary Locate the most powerful academic words in the text and integrate questions and discussions that explore their role in the text. You can define words in margins for students, but develop text-based questions for powerful Tier II academic word investigation.

11. 3 Tiers of Vocabulary

12. CCSS Shift: Greater Emphasis on Teaching Academic Vocabulary The Common Core suggests that it’s important to target specific instruction on Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary words to help students develop deep understanding that often cannot be acquired through independent reading.

13. Tier III Words Domain specific words” that are specifically tied to content. (i.e. Constitution, lava) These are typically the types of vocabulary words that are included in glossaries, highlighted in textbooks and address by teachers. They are considered difficult words important to understanding content. Tier 3 words, however, are often targeted in content specific instruction. The words appear bolded in text and they are featured in glossaries.

14. Tier II Words Tier 2 words are particularly important and challenging to identify and target since they appear across all disciplines. The task at hand, then, appears to be identifying the Tier 2 words and finding effective instructional strategies to dig deeper and support acquisition of those words.

15. Why are “academic words” important? They are critical to understanding academic texts. They appear in all sorts of texts. They require deliberate effort to learn, unlike Tier 1 words. They are far more likely to appear in written texts than in speech. They often represent subtle or precise ways to say otherwise relatively simple things. They are seldom heavily scaffolded by authors or teachers, unlike Tier 3 words. Common Core State Standards, Appendix A, page 33

16. Criteria for selecting words to teach The word is central to understanding the text. The word choice and nuance are significant. Students are likely to see this word frequently. Students will be able to use this word when writing in response to the text. It is a more mature or precise label for concepts students already have under control. The word lends itself to teaching a web of words and concepts around it.

17. Vocabulary Grabber

18. What is not included? Also create questions that deliberately get students to look at the “white space.” Have them examine not only the words/phrases present but also what is missing and why that might be so.

19. Questions that go beyond the text Some guidelines advise not to ask questions that do not have textual support (“How do you think the person might have felt as they wrote this?” How can you relate the ideas in this document to today?” “Have you been in this situation?”) Really?? We know these questions bring out personal responses to text and are often higher level thinking. However, if students haven’t investigated what the text says, will the answers to these questions be as rich? So it is a matter of when to ask these, not to avoid them.

20. Anticipate prompts to move students beyond unsubstantiated answers And where in the text/what in the text leads you to that answer? How do you know? And how does that affect the author’s (point of view, argument, problem, claim, etc.)? Does any other part of the text seem to refute or support this section/your answer? How? Where? When the author says, “_________,” what is he/she getting at?

21. Instructional Tips Explicitly teach students thinking skills- not just give them a handout of text-dependent questions for seatwork or homework Practice the art of think alouds. Model the process on a small section. Show them the “how” and the “why” to your thinking Fight the urge to give the correct answer. Direct students back to the text to do the thinking. “That’s an interesting thought. Let’s go back to paragraph 2 and see if we can find evidence to back that up or refute it.” Elicit questions from students too.

22. Instructional Tips Plan for multiple re-readings: Student silent, read out loud, ask questions, back to text silently, etc. Number lines for critical areas of close reading to make re-reading and citing textual evidence easier Scaffold: Help students productively struggle through difficult sections, not replace actually reading it. Some students will need more scaffolding, but we should be continually assessing and adjusting

23. Video Examples Close Reading Social Studies: The Olympians 6 th grade Close Reading Current Events in Science: Speaking, Listening, Text Dependent questions Current Events in Science

24. Websites for Help in Developing Text Dependent Questions CoreTaskProject- Nevada CoreTaskProject Science and Literacy- Boston Public Schools Science and Literacy PARCC Released items

25. Alignment of the Disciplinary CCSS and NGSS Link to Appendix M

26. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind- Science Text Harness the Power of Reading Excerpt from Prologue TedTalk Wired online article Moving Windmills Moving Windmills short film CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7 Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.9 Compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).